JAMMU, Jan 9: The 60-day long annual yatra to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in South Kashmir Himalayas will commence on June 28 and will conclude on August 26.

The decision to have a 60-day yatra this year was taken at a meeting of the board presided over by SASB Chairman N N Vohra, who is also Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. The meeting was attended by Board members Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan, Dr. (Prof.) Ved Kumari Ghai, Pt. Bhajan Sopori, Vijay Dhar, Ms. Sunita Narain, Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty, D.C. Raina, Prof. Chander Mouli Raina and by Umang Narula, Chief Executive Officer, Bhupinder Kumar, Additional Chief Executive Officer, and other senior officers of the Shrine Board.

The board also decided to file a review petition against directions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) regarding conduct of the yatra.

Considering the carrying capacity of the existing tracks and other available infrastructure in the yatra area, the board decided to allow 7, 500 pilgrims daily on each route from Pahalgam and Baltal to the holy shrine. This will exclude pilgrims travelling by helicopter.

For registration of the pilgrims, the board designated 437 designated branches of Punjab National Bank, Jammu and Kashmir Bank and YES Bank, located in 32 states and Union Territories and asked the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to take all required steps to commence Advance Registration of pilgrims with effect from March 1, 2018. The board further directed CEO to repeatedly publicise, through the electronic and print media, and advise the intending yatris to timely secure the prescribed Compulsory Health Certificates issued by the doctors/ hospitals nominated by the state or UTs in which they reside.

Only thereafter, they shall proceed to seek Advance Registration from the nearest located designated bank which would issue the pilgrim a Yatra Permit which shall be valid for the specified date and route. It also advised CEO to appeal to all the potential pilgrims to consult their doctors before embarking on the pilgrimage and that no person below the age of 13 years and above the age of 75 years shall be permitted to undertake the pilgrimage.

It further directed the CEO to take timely steps for ensuring uninterrupted telecom connectivity in the yatra area. The board also directed the CEO to caution all potential pilgrims to particularly take into account the difficult climate and terrain in the high altitude region of the yatra and prepare themselves fully before embarking on the pilgrimage. As in the past, the awareness campaign would be launched with the cooperation and support of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and CEO shall place all information relating to yatra on the Board’s Website (www.Shriamarnathjishrine.com).

JAMMU, Jan 9: The opposition members from National Conference and Congress members on Tuesday staged a walkout from the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly in protest against poor power scenario in the state as the Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh, who also holds the charge of power, had to face the ire of united opposition.
The government also had to face flak on the issue of shortcomings in ration supply. On this issue even the members of treasury benches joined the cause with the opposition.